Tattoo Life
Magazine #11

Nothing could compare to the grandeur of Tokyo's first international tattoo convention except, another, improved convention. Like last year, the event was preceded by the obligatory welcome party which included cocktails that flowed steadily all night. The evening came complete with a techno/trance D.J. and dance floor, which few bravely ventured upon. Trying to get in touch with Mark to get the details for the party was futile, but I luckily got a hold of Henning Jorgensen (Denmark) and Trevor McStay (Australia) and we arranged to meet along with Geordie Cole for dinner and the quest for cocktails. As we entered the welcome party, I literally bumped into Greg James (Sunset Strip Tattoo) and one of the tattoo world's most serious collectors, Ron (Australia) who warmly greeted me. I hugged my way through the crowd and bellied-up to the bar, right next to the Southern Californians, Corey Miller and Charlie Roberts, who bought me my first drink. It already felt more like a reunion and less like last year's land of the lost.

Many of the familiar faces from last year's roster attended, pleased to participate once again in an event of such prestige. This year's expanded cast of characters included the dark and magnificent Paul Booth, the ever respected master, Tattooland's Jack Rudy, 222's Scott Sylvia, Eric Maaske, Sunset Strip's Greg James and many more. A few faces were missed this year, but with over forty artists (compared to last year's twenty-something) it was hard to feel as if something was missing.

The first day's turn out seemed to double last year's as well. Tattoo aficionados came from all over the world, including Brazil, Australia, France, Spain, and many other countries. Our hosts, Permanent Mark (proud father of a ten week old daughter, Asia) and Horiyoshi III unfurled their Suishin clothing line and online tattoo magazine, www.skinflicks-ta2mag.com which will hopefully feature the magnificent tattoo photography that somehow escapes publication in the pages of other printed magazines. SkinFlicks-ta2mag.com boasts a huge photo gallery, and is apparently growing by the day.

Suishin's clothes have the quality of high fashion and the edge of brilliant tattoo designs that other clothing lines attempt, but fail miserably at. No matter how hard the fashion designers try to mimic tattoo designs, they just don't seem to have a clue.
Suishin's clothing will undoubtedly be proudly worn by tattoo artists and collectors world-wide. Suishin is designed mostly by Eastern master, Horiyoshi III and Western master, Permanent Mark. Mark acts mainly as art director, but had his hand in designing the bags, and aloha shirts. Horiyoshi's wife, Mayumi Nakano, manages the museum, while helping Mr. Nakano design his clothing line which is produced along with Suishin. This project includes a skateboard with a Horiyoshi III graphic, and is sold with a limited edition print, signed and numbered. Only 500 are available. Chris Garver, Charlie Roberts, Hanky Panky, Mike Wilson, Freddie Corbin and Filip Leu are all artists whose designs will also be represented under the Suishin label. Suishin will go further than any other tattoo wear line has ever dreamt, much like its founders.

They hope to open their first retail shop in Los Angeles at the beginning of 2001. They plan on selling the coveted Japanese tattoo books the westerners search for as well as other Japanese tattoo items. The Tokyo retail shop will have to wait until later, since it takes about U.S.$90,000 to open one in Japan. When the Tokyo retail shop is up and running, it will focus more on American and European goods, since that seems to be the items most wanted by the Japanese. In the meantime, they will have a Tokyo office for distribution throughout Japan and the world. They welcome orders from tattoo studios who would like to sell Suishin, but warned that the prices may be high. Mark said, "Japan is very expensive for manufacturing, so the prices won't be comparable to American or European clothing prices, at least until we can get established with our L.A. location." To find out more or see some of the amazing goods, visit their website at: www.suishin/tokyo.com

As I roamed the floor on the second day, I wondered why a crowd surrounded the Good Time Charlie's Tattooland booth. I found Jack Rudy in the middle of tattooing a single needle Jesus portrait on the top of a clean-shaven head belonging to a tattoo artist from Chiba, Japan. They placed plastic bags around Horitoshi’s designer shirt to protect it from ink stains. I was also introduced to a photographer from Japan’s tattoo and extreme lifestyle magazine, “Burst.” Ryoichi Maeda, the photographer, like me, shot roll after roll of film to document all the beautiful tattoo art and their collectors. I also noticed Filip Leu switched booth spaces with an artist from Taiwan and the Borneo Headhunters. I guess that the crowd around Filip blocked the path to the back bar on the first day, so they created a pathway to the bar, allowing the people a chance to actually see what Filip at work. Their rearrangement also brought the Borneo Headhunters to the middle of the floor, giving them the exposure they deserved. After all, they were the only ones at the convention doing hand tattooing.

Unlike last year, there weren't as many group events planned. It worked out well, though since the artists who attended last year were more comfortable with Tokyo, and knew which spots they wanted to visit for tattoo history, souvenirs and shopping for machine parts (even when a tattooer is on "vacation," we are still looking for materials to refine our art). More of the return artists decided to stay longer than last year to make time to see all the things that they missed. Jack Rudy was an exception. His wife was very ill and spent a night in the hospital before they left for Japan. He decided to go directly home to Southern California. I hope she's feeling better by the time this goes to print!

After the convention, most of the artists who stayed longer in Japan went their separate ways, except for Henk (Hanky Panky) Schiffmaker and Louise (the newly wedded "Mrs. Fucking Panky"). They were married at around 3:00 AM on the 4th of September by Reverend Freddie Corbin at the Yen Bar.

I wanted to spend time with Henning, Trevor and Geordie since it might be two years before I see the Aussies again. I’ll be doing frequent guest spots with Henning at Royal Tattoo in Helsingor, Denmark, so we’ll be working together a lot. We made sure to do all the Tokyo musts, karaoke, bowling and tattoo points of interest.

First stop was Horicho's Tattoo museum in beautiful Asakusa (a historical and cultural area of Tokyo). I've heard about this place from Stan Corona, on his return from Japan five months earlier. Everything he described about the museum was true, even in it’s new location. The front is a tiny, discrete gift shop which sells an odd assortment of clothing and trinkets. The manager, actually met us at the taxi, since the driver called from his mobile phone to make sure us "Gaijin" (foreigners) wouldn't get lost. It was very considerate of the cab driver, but that's the protocol for Japanese hospitality toward their guests. Upon entering the shop, it's easy for one to wonder, "who would buy this junk..." and from the looks of the dust, no one does. Once the guest book is signed, and the admission paid, the sliding door opens to a tiny back room cluttered with vintage tattoo equipment, books and videos. Topping it all off, were framed originals of Horicho tattoo designs. Then it comes together that the "gift shop" is kind of a front for the tattoo museum. This one room museum is one you can't get lost in. The manager, Hiromi Nakano (not to be confused with Horiyoshi III's wife) is the wife of Horicho and was also the recent winner from New York's convention for Most Outstanding. With my sketchy Japanese and her shy attempts at English, we got by with the international language of tattooing. I bought her autobiography and had her autograph it for me. Then we took the mandatory photo with her, before saying "sayonara". We then did some serious souvenir shopping. Snatching up hannya masks and other Japanese goods like there was no tomorrow, which was true for the others, since they all had to return home within the next two days. I would be staying on in Tokyo to work with my friend, Sezuki and to do a Music/Art/Tattoo event called “Connect” at the end of the month, so I needed to conserve my budget. The night before they left, we had dinner with Scott Silvia, and Mike before ending the night with another round of karaoke madness.

Once all the foreign tattoo artists had either gone home, or gone their separate ways to work at various studios, I was able to arrange a few moments with Permanent Mark to get some answers that everyone wanted to know.

Erika: Why are there no Japanese tattoo artists at Suishin?

P.M.: There's just no room. Everyone knows that in Japan, the great tattoo artists have what they call "families." Let's estimate that there would be about 15 families invited. Every family has about 10 artists. That would mean over 150 artists would show up, and even with forty artists this year, we were already very tight on space. Then, there's so many great artists. I wouldn't know how to invite a few artists without insulting the others. I wouldn't be able to invite only one family. It's just not realistic to attempt.

E.S.: Will you be doing another convention next year?

P.M.: No, we're going to wait until 2002.

E.S.: Is it because of the project of Suishin's clothing line?

P.M.: It has a little to do with that, but it's mostly to give it a break. I want to let the artists gather their money. Tokyo's very expensive, so many of the artists can't afford to keep coming every year. Last year I had no cancellations, this year I had some, because of the expenses. Most of the artists only break even. They come mostly for the experience of Japan. Also, I want to keep the quality of artists high.

E.S.: Is it true that another project you'll be working on is a book on the Suishin conventions?

P.M.: That's a future project. I've got so much stuff going on right now, and we aren't sure if we will have to find a publisher or if we'll be able to actually publish the book ourselves. So that is kind of up in the air right now. I definitely would like to do something like that. I think it would be interesting for everyone to have. The people who came would have something nice to keep, and the folks who couldn't make it would get a chance to see what it was all about.

E.S.: That's a good idea! There's so much fantastic art to be seen at these events. It would be nice to collect it all in one place and make it available for people to keep in their libraries. Good luck with all your projects, and thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to give us all some information.

P.M.: No problem. Hope to see you in 2002!

Here’s a list of web sites for those of you who couldn’t make it. Via the internet, you might almost feel like you were there: